NEW YORK — The international news media has been “spreading Hamas propaganda” by citing unverified casualty numbers and depicting the Hamas-instigated Gaza border riots as protests intended to be peaceful, Breitbart Jerusalem chief Aaron Klein charged.

Klein stated: “As per usual, the entire news media is turning things completely around. From truth to fiction. … From victim to aggressor and then back to victim again. … These are not the so-called peaceful protests that the news media has been telling us about since Friday. In fact, actually, the media is basically serving as willing dupes spreading Hamas propaganda.”

Klein was speaking on his weekend talk radio program “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio,” broadcast on New York’s AM 970 The Answer and NewsTalk 990 AM in Philadelphia.

Listen to the segment here:

The international news media has been widely citing data released by Hamas-run health agencies in the Gaza Strip when reporting on the number of injuries during violent protests along the Israel-Gaza border.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claims that some 1,400 Palestinians were injured during protests Friday and Saturday, further claiming that over half of those numbers were wounded by live rounds fired by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The media has also cited figures that 16 Palestinians were killed in Friday and Saturday protests.

On Saturday, the IDF announced that of the 16 Palestinians reportedly killed, 10 were members of Palestinian terrorist groups.

Hamas itself provided evidence that it is cynically utilizing the cover of civilian demonstrators to attack Israel, thus drawing Israeli fire toward the crowds. On Saturday, Hamas released photographs of five members of its so-called military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades jihad unit, announcing they were among the 16 Gazans reportedly killed on Friday. Hamas stated that the five jihadists were killed while taking part “in popular events side-by-side with their people.”

“So, okay. What are terrorists doing in a peaceful protest?” asked Klein. The Breitbart reporter stated that the terrorists present “weren’t sitting around and singing Kumbaya. And this wasn’t some Woodstock festival with terrorists and civilians storming an Israeli border. So, we are getting a larger picture here and the picture is certainly not of peaceful protesters.”

Regarding the widely reported claim that some 1,400 Palestinians were wounded, Israel says it has no way to independently verify the Hamas numbers. IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis accused Hamas of exaggerating the casualty count and stressed that IDF information indicates only several dozen at most were wounded by live fire. Manelis explained that the remaining injuries were likely caused by tear gas and other crowd dispersal methods.

Klein told his radio audience that the world media is “using numbers provided by a terrorist organization with a history of propaganda. With a history of actually fabricating massively Palestinian casualty numbers. So 1,400. We have no verification of that other than from a terrorist organization committed to Israel’s destruction and known for lying and propaganda.”

According to the IDF, rioters on Friday threw firebombs and hurled rocks at soldiers, attempted to breach the Israeli border, tried to damage the border fence, and opened fire on Israeli troops.

Klein referred to pictures and video capturing the violence, including Palestinians in the midst of attacking soldiers.

Stated Klein: “You can see the so-called peaceful protesters. They are throwing stones and rocks, which by the way are deadly projectiles the way they are throwing it. They are throwing Molotov cocktails. They are storming the Israeli border. They are using live fire to shoot at the Israeli border. They are attempting to breach the border fence. This is not a protest. This is an organized mass violent attack against a sovereign nation’s borders.

“That is why Israel is firing back. You tell me, which country in its right mind would have tens of thousands of people coming toward the border. Including let’s say hundreds or thousands who are violently attacking using weapons to get through the border. In this case, Israel thankfully has a border fence. What should Israel do? They should roll over? They should just ignore this? They should allow their border to be stormed and then the Israeli communities nearby attacked? And Israelis murdered? What does the world want Israel to do? How does the world want Israel to respond?”